If there is one thing Kim Seokjin excels at, it is not worrying about what’s already done, or what could potentially be. Self-admittedly, he prefers to focus mainly on the present, and small attainable goals for the future. His overriding drive is sustaining happiness. This simple honesty, and lack of guile, has carried Jin through his years in BTS, and served as an inspiring example for both his bandmates and his fans. During 2017 and 2018, BTS was going through one of the most difficult times in their career. Most of this was happening behind the scenes, so ARMY was none the wiser at the time. It wasn’t until Jin stepped up to the microphone during an acceptance speech at the 2018 MAMA awards that fans found out the group had been dangerously close to disbanding earlier that year. As the eldest hyung, Jin took that moment to recognize his fellow members’ bravery and love in coming through the fire. In his commitment to seeking happiness, he wanted ARMY to know that they were stronger than ever, always grateful, and dedicated to focusing on what truly matters the most… their fans, and each other.

The word ‘fate’ carries a heavy weight. To claim that something was fated to happen is saying that, no matter what, the outcome received was the one always meant to be. When we take into account things like timing, individual reactions and behavior, and a myriad of outside factors that could occur, claiming anything that happens to be fated seems a bit… naive, perhaps? Kim Seokjn was the last person who ever thought he’d end up a K-Pop Idol. He was a young man who prioritized simplicity and easy happiness over everything else. However, while attending college to pursue acting, a series of random events in his life led him to eventually becoming a member of BTS—now one of the biggest musical groups in the entire world. Prior to becoming a trainee, Jin had never tried to sing or dance in his entire life. As we look at the road he walked to become the artist he is now, it’s hard to think anything other than destiny was at work the day he was spotted by a Big Hit scout just getting off the bus, on his way to school.

As 2022 came to a close, RM was busy promoting his first solo album, Indigo. In the midst of all this, at the beginning of December, Jin (having reached his 30th birthday), enlisted in the South Korean Army, in order to fulfill his mandatory military service. The members all gathered with him at his base camp, to say goodbye (for now) to their hyung, and to Chapter One of BTS’ career. At the start of 2023, ARMY had no idea who would next be enlisting. Namjoon didn’t seem to have any projects happening at the time, however, in a Weverse live in February, he randomly said, “I think I’m off the Indigo mode. I think I’m on the next stage already.” What “next stage” did he mean? But we wouldn’t find out until over a year later… not until after he’d all but disappeared over the summer, teased us repeatedly with art house film images posted on a mysterious new Instagram account, and then enlisted in the military himself. We went NUTS (pun intended) trying to figure out what “rpwp” meant. Finally, in April of 2024… we got our answer. Right Place, Wrong Person—RM’s second studio album. 

We spend our whole lives seeking out who we are. We’re often defined by where we grow up, our careers, the people we surround ourselves with… but is that truly the essence of one’s self? Or is there more to that picture? From 2019 to 2022, Kim Namjoon pondered this question often. As his band, BTS, rose to the heights of superstardom, he found himself yearning to feel the ground beneath his feet again. This week we’ll explore the process by which he navigated his members through unprecedented global upheaval, all while chronicling the latter half of his twenties and searching for himself through the medium of art. This is the journey of RM’s first solo album, 2022’s Indigo.

Kim Namjoon has never been afraid of change. Which is good—adaptability is one of the most important qualities of leadership, and he happens to be the leader of the biggest music group in the world. In 2015, BTS released The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1, and it symbolized a significant change in the direction of their career. It was significantly different not only from BTS’ prior album era, but also to the mixtape Rap Monster had just put out about a month prior. RM was raw and often abrasive. The next couple of years of his and BTS’ career would continue to bring increasing amounts of change, which Namjoon would observe, analyze, and (of course) write about. By the time he released his next mixtape, mono. in late 2018, he was ready to share with the world how he’d developed both personally and artistically since his last project. Perhaps the most significant example of that growth he’d experienced, was the shift in his mindset from Rap Monster to RM… Real Me.

The beginning of 2013 brought a renewed sense of purpose to 18 year-old Kim Namjoon. He’d been a trainee at Big Hit Entertainment for three years, by that point, and as another new year was getting started, it felt like a make or break moment for him. In a series of VLOGs he filmed that January, he expressed both confidence and confusion… not unusual for someone his age. However, rather than ruminating on typical teenage worries like grades and relationships, he was dealing with warring narratives in his head over his budding music career. In one corner—the underground rap community he’d been part of before becoming a trainee—whispering in his ears that he was losing his edge and on his way to selling out. In the other corner—the higher ups at Big Hit—telling him he needed to forget his former peers and live up to his potential as a rapper. And at the center—a young man who was determined to share his talent with the world.

One of the reasons ARMY is the size that it is today is due to how free and honest the members have been with sharing themselves—sharing their true selves and feelings with their fans since the very beginning. The release of PROOF in June of 2022 was a testament to that. This week, we will take a look at the third and final disc of that album, which included raw and unfiltered demo versions of some of their hits, as well as some previously unreleased tracks. The world of K-Pop is always glossy—carefully crafted images and sounds. A lot of artists only want to present the polished final product to their fans, not the scrapped imperfections they had to get through along the way to making that product. However, from their beginning, BTS has proved themselves to be the opposite. While they’ve always wanted to perform their best for ARMY, they’ve also been extremely transparent on what it takes for them to get to that point. So it’s no surprise that even after achieving massive global fame and success, they were still taking the time to honestly show us how they got there—to show us their proof.

ARMY knows how much literal blood, sweat, and tears the members of BTS have put into their career over the years. How sleep deprived, hungry, and in pain they often were… particularly in the early days. Last week we began our exploration of the PROOF anthology album, and we discussed Disc 1, which was a nod to how far the group as a whole had come (including a retrospective look at their title tracks over the years) as well as a promise of hope for the future. This week, we’re covering Disc 2, which includes another brand-new song that talks about the hard work and dedication they put in to forge their path, as well as fourteen songs from their discography that the members selected themselves. Each member chose two songs, and we will learn why they picked them, and watch as they reflect on how these songs, and the journey they’ve been on in BTS, shaped who they are as individuals.

What is an anthology album? It’s a collection of favorite songs chosen by the compiler, and usually includes backlogged/unreleased content as well. Any artist, after they’ve been out for a few years and have a few releases under their belt can release a “Greatest Hits” album, but few have enough material, nor enough of an interested fanbase to warrant the creation of an anthology. Anthologies are meant to be a true retrospective of an artist’s career up to that point. I can name just a few others off the top of my head who have done it—Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Queen, The Beatles. By 2022, this was the level BTS was playing at. They were about to release a celebration of how far they had come in their nine-year career. This week we’ll discuss the first disc of their anthology album, PROOF, which included a retrospective of all of their title tracks from 2013 to 2021, as well as a brand-new song, and a remastered version of one they’d released on SoundCloud just after they debuted.